When Ahab heard these words, he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and fasted. He slept in sackcloth and walked around dejected.

Jehoshaphat passed away ¹  and was buried with his ancestors in the city of his ancestor ²  David. His son Jehoram replaced him as king.

Dogs will devour Jezebel on the plot of ground in Jezreel; she will not be buried.’” ¹  Then he opened the door and ran away.

He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and when she hit the ground, ¹  her blood splattered against the wall and the horses, and Jehu drove his chariot over her. ² 

He went inside and had a meal. ¹  Then he said, “Dispose of this accursed woman’s corpse. Bury her, for after all, she was a king’s daughter.” ² 

When the time comes for you to die, ¹  I will raise up your descendant, ²  one of your own sons, to succeed you, and I will establish his kingdom.

He also made three hundred small shields of hammered gold; 300 measures ¹  of gold were used for each of those shields. The king placed them in the Palace of the Lebanon Forest. ² 

King Rehoboam made bronze shields to replace them and assigned them to the officers of the royal guard ¹  who protected the entrance to the royal palace.

Jehoiada the priest gave to the officers of the units of hundreds King David’s spears and shields ¹  that were kept in God’s temple.

Uzziah passed away ¹  and was buried near his ancestors ²  in a cemetery ³  belonging to the kings. (This was because he had a skin disease.) ⁴  His son Jotham replaced him as king.

Ahaz passed away ¹  and was buried in the City of David; ²  they did not bring him to the tombs of the kings of Israel. His son Hezekiah replaced him as king.

Hezekiah was very wealthy and greatly respected. He made storehouses for his silver, gold, precious stones, spices, and all his other valuable possessions. ¹ 

Mordecai the Jew was second only to King Ahasuerus. He was the highest-ranking ¹  Jew, and he was admired by his numerous relatives. ²  He worked enthusiastically ³  for the good of his people and was an advocate for the welfare of ⁴  all his descendants. ⁵ 

He said, “Naked ¹  I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there. ²  The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. ³  May the name of the Lord ⁴  be blessed!”

With all my strength I will say, ¹  “O Lord, who can compare to you? You rescue ²  the oppressed from those who try to overpower them; ³  the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.” ⁴ 

Your eyes saw me when I was inside the womb. ¹  All the days ordained for me were recorded in your scroll before one of them came into existence. ² 

when those who keep watch over the house ¹  begin to tremble, ²  and the virile men begin to stoop over, ³  and the grinders ⁴  begin to cease because they grow few, and those who look through the windows grow dim, ⁵ 

For this reason my stomach churns; ¹  cramps overwhelm me like the contractions of a woman in labor. I am disturbed ²  by what I hear, horrified by what I see.

This is what the Lord, the one who made you, says – the one who formed you in the womb and helps you: “Don’t be afraid, my servant Jacob, Jeshurun, ¹  whom I have chosen!

This is what the Lord, your protector, ¹  says, the one who formed you in the womb: “I am the Lord, who made everything, who alone stretched out the sky, who fashioned the earth all by myself, ²